PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Carla E. Cadena del Castillo
AU  - J. Thomas Hannich
AU  - Andres Kaech
AU  - Hirohisa Chiyoda
AU  - Masamitsu Fukuyama
AU  - Nils J. Færgeman
AU  - Howard Riezman
AU  - Anne Spang
TI  - Patched regulates lipid homeostasis by controlling cellular cholesterol levels
AID  - 10.1101/816256
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 816256
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/10/23/816256.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/10/23/816256.full
AB  - Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is essential during development and in organ physiology. In the canonical pathway, Hh binding to Patched (PTCH) relieves the inhibition of Smoothened (SMO). Yet, PTCH may also perform SMO-independent functions. While the PTCH homolog PTC-3 is essential in C. elegans, worms lack SMO, providing an excellent model to probe non-canonical PTCH function. Here, we show that PTC-3 is a cholesterol transporter. ptc-3(RNAi) leads to accumulation of intracellular cholesterol and defects in ER structure and lipid droplet formation. These phenotypes were accompanied by a reduction in acyl chain (FA) length and desaturation. ptc-3(RNAi)-induced lethality, fat storage and ER morphology defects were rescued by reducing dietary cholesterol. We provide evidence that cholesterol accumulation modulates the function of nuclear hormone receptors such as of the PPARα homolog NHR-49 and NHR-181, and affects FA composition. Our data uncover a novel role for PTCH in organelle structure maintenance and fat metabolism.